If you haven’t heard about the Kimberley region of Western Australia and the colorful town of Broome – you soon will!

The Kimberley is a vast and remote wilderness in the far north of Western Australia, featuring a wild and beautiful panorama of rugged mountain ranges, spectacular gorges and majestic waterfalls. Yet despite its isolation, the area is supported by safe and modern facilities that can be accessed easily from anywhere in the world! And the gateway to the Kimberley is the pearling port of Broome – fringed by postcard beaches and drenched in balmy tropical weather, Broome is one of Australia’s most successful tourist destinations. But it hasn’t always been that way!

Broome has a stormy and adventure filled past that would compare favorably with the pages of any wild-west paperback.

The town’s fortunes have always depended on the lure of the pearl, and its early years were not for the faint hearted. Cyclones, sharks and the dreaded “bends” frequently brought members of the pearling fleet to an untimely demise and Broome was a melting pot of racial exploitation, greed and dispute. But the town survived more than its fair share of calamity and, a cosmopolitan background spiced with an endless procession of larger-than-life characters has created one of Australia’s truly unique “outback” experiences.

Pearling continues to be Broome’s principal endeavor and the romance of harvesting riches from the sea endures, however the town also entices visitors from around the world who come to experience Broome’s distinctive lifestyle and the region’s extraordinary wilderness quality.

And that wilderness quality is never more evident than when diving amongst the pristine and spectacular coral formations of the Rowley Shoals.

Lying 300 kilometres due west of Broome, the coral atolls of the Rowley Shoals tower vertically in 400 metres of water to create “the world’s last great underwater wilderness” – an area of more than 300 square miles with no significant history of exploitation. Uniquely influenced by substantial tidal range, the Shoals support more than 600 species of fish (including several species of diver-friendly mega-fauna such as hump-back whales, manta rays, hammerhead sharks and other large reef species) and the exaggerated growth of more than 200 species of coral. Protected by marine park status and insulated from global warming by deep oceanic waters, they represent perhaps the only true remaining example of undisturbed coral habitat. However not even an inviting water temperature of 26oC and reliable 40 metre visibility has compromised the flawless nature of the Rowley Shoals, their remoteness ensures that less than 200 divers a year give testimony to their brilliance!

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